Who are you?

The calmness with which the voice spoke, the chilling authority, and the temptation all wrapped around Julian, making the heat in his body rise.

His gaze fell once more on Aria and Harith, then drifted back to the villagers as their acts continued. The aura in the room pulsed with a magnetic energy, and he felt its pull more strongly now.

"Join us," the voice whispered again.

Julian calmed himself, not giving in to the temptations. He glanced around, but he could not find anything unusual. His heart raced, and he tried to focus, pushing aside the rising panic.

"Concentrate," he told himself.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then focused his mind as intensely as he could. When he opened his eyes again, the surroundings had transformed, filled by the tiny, overwhelming number of pixels.